Just A Simple Gift Can Make All The Difference
by TheTrueMrsEdmundPevensie
Summary: Takes place during Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Just supposed to be a cute little one-shot about Draco FINALLY being nice to Hermione. And in gift form! haha Enjoy and read&review!


Hermione sighed as she set down her book and looked out the Library window. It was Christmas at Hogwarts, so they didn't have any classes. She shocked herself when she was actually thankful for this. Her brain had been fried from working so hard on the Polyjuice Potion that she, Ron, and Harry needed to interrogate Draco Malfoy. Her best friends were so convinced that he was the heir to Salazar Slytherin, that he was the reason for the attacks happening at the school. But for some reason, Hermione didn't have that feeling. Sure Malfoy was mean, cruel, and a bully. But to be able to petrify all of those muggle-borns, someone would need very powerful dark magic. A second year was not capable of that! Also, a person couldn't have a heart to be able to nearly kill all of those innocent people. Hermione was sure that under that (somewhat) tough exterior of Malfoy's, he had one. Even if it was ice cold. Of course she wouldn't be able to say any of this to Harry or Ron. They would just think she was crazy. Hermione looked up at the old grandfather clock in the Library that read 2:00 pm, and decided to go check on the potion one more time to make sure it was ready. The three of them would be interrogating Malfoy that night.

As Hermione walked down the corridor, she noticed it was very quiet. Almost everybody went home for the holidays because they were so freaked about the Chamber of Secrets being opened again. The only students there were pretty much just Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George, Percy, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and herself. There were a few others, but they stayed away because they thought Harry was the heir to Slytherin. So Hogwarts was pretty much a ghost town. Hermione was about to turn the corner when someone shouted, "GRANGER!" Hermione turned around cautiously, only to find the blonde-headed, blue eyed, 'heir to Slytherin' coming her way. She thought, "Oh, here we go. Hermione, brace yourself for more insults!" When he was right in front of her, she spat, "What do _you_ want, Malfoy?" He smirked and said, "Wow, Granger. Didn't recognize you without Scarhead or the Weasel on each of your arms." Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Wow, Malfoy. Didn't recognize you without your goons on each of _your_ arms." Draco's smirk flickered before saying, "Did you really just copy me? Honestly, I'm surprised. With you being top of the class," he wrinkled his nose at this, "I thought you could do better." Hermione sighed dramatically before saying, "What do you want, Malfoy? I'm kind of in a hurry and I'm not in the mood for your lame insults!" Even though most of them hurt her inside. Draco raised his eyebrows. "What could you be in a hurry for on Christmas?" Hermione thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with something. Obviously she couldn't tell him 'Oh, I'm just going to go check on a potion I've been brewing for over a month with your worst enemy to later trick you into telling us who the heir to Slytherin is. Even though it might be you!' Hermione finally came up with, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe getting away from you!" At this, she turned on her heal and began to walk away when she felt Malfoy pull at her arm to stop her. "No, wait Granger. I actually took time out of my day to talk to you, so let me talk." Hermione looked down at Draco's hand still on her arm and said, "Wow, you're actually touching a 'mudblood'. You would rather chew nails, so this must be good!" But as she said this, she could've sworn she saw him slightly frown at the offensive term he called only a few months earlier. But as quickly as it came, it was gone, and he was back to his regular stone cold expression. Draco took his hand off her arm and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small box wrapped in green parchment and tied in silver ribbon.

At first she was surprised when he held it out to her, not believing what was happening. Was Draco Malfoy really giving her a present on Christmas? After a minute of just staring at the gift, Hermione took it, her eyes not leaving Draco's face. He held a blank expression, so she started examining the box, making sure it wasn't some sort of a trick. After thinking it seemed pretty safe, she slowly unwrapped the parchment. Under the green and silver was a little black box, no bigger than a deck of cards. Hermione looked at Draco's face again, seeing that it was still blank. But this time she saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. She opened the box, revealing a gold necklace. It had the initials H.G. on the front in cursive writing, surrounded by a red lion. Hermione had her mouth slightly open in awe. Not only was it very beautiful, but it was also custom made. Meaning he spent some time on it and didn't just steal it from some helpless first year. She looked up again, this time with a softer expression, and said, "Oh my gosh, Dra-erm-Malfoy. It's really beautiful!" At this, a genuine smile spread across his face. "You like it?" For the first time ever, he sounded shy and not his usual self. "I love it." She said as she smiled. Draco then said, "And that's not all. Here look." He took out his wand and raised it, so it faced the necklace and said, "Lorem Ipsum" Suddenly the lion was replaced by a slithering, green snake around the H.G. Hermione gasped and Draco just chuckled. "I know how you hate Slytherins and all, but since it was from me-" "No no, it's perfect! I love it!" Hermione quickly interrupted. Draco's smile grew bigger, and Hermione loved every little thing about it. She looked down at the piece of jewelry and then formed a shy yet sweet smile on her face. She looked to him and asked, "Umm, can you help me put it on?" Draco raised his eyebrows but nodded. Hermione gave him the necklace and turned around, pulling her hair to one side. He reached his arms around her head and to the back of her neck, where his fingers lightly grazed her skin, sending shivers down her spine. She blushed a light pink as he clasped the necklace shut and she turned around to face him. "Thanks" she murmured quietly. Draco was amused at her shyness toward him and chuckled, "No problem." That's when they heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

It turned out to be Percy, Ron's brother and prefect, and he walked up to them with a slightly irritated look on his face. Just as he came up to them, Draco's face turned cold again. Hermione's face fell just as Percy said, "What are you two doing here? Students shouldn't just wander the corridors, especially with what's recently been happening." That statement brought Hermione's mind back to the Polyjuice potion. "Get back to your dormitories, both of you!" Draco scoffed and said, "Why should we listen to _you_, Weasley?" Percy glared at him and said, "Mind your attitude, Malfoy." And with that, he was gone. Draco muttered, "See you later, Granger." Then he started to strut away in his usual Malfoy self when Hermione's voice stopped him. He turned around and looked at her, waiting for her response. She looked at her necklace and back at him again, and said with a sweet smile, "Thanks!" He smiled, always remembering the image of her smile in his mind. And for a moment, it seemed as though all of the world stopped. They stood there, just staring at each other, loving every moment of it. Then, Draco turned around and walked towards the Slytherin common room. Hermione didn't see, but while he was walking away, he had a huge grin on his face. Hermione was now alone, standing in the middle of the corridor. She held the necklace in her hand and said to herself, "There is no way Draco Malfoy is the heir to Slytherin."

**Well, what did you think?**

**It's just something I came up with. :)**

**Oh, and if you don't know what Draco said to make the necklace change, it was "change design" in Latin. I used Google Translator.**

**And a BIG thank you to the positive reviews I got for my last story. Your guys's positive comments are what inspired me to write more!**

**I might make more chapters for this story too, all taking place in the movie: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and maybe so on. Don't forget to read&review! XD **


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